Forever and Always
by Cerulean Pen
Summary: From the beginning, he was a no-nonsense guy, and only thought about the future. Buzz's life goes on, as he meets many people along the way: Woody, Dolly…Jessie. She teaches him to open his eyes to the present, and things just go from there. AU/Human-fic.


Forever and Always

Summary: From the beginning, he was a no-nonsense guy, and only thought about the future. Buzz's life progressing, as he meets many people along the way: Woody, Dolly…Jessie. She teaches him to open his eyes to the present, and things just go from there. AU/Human-fic.

English Romance/Friendship Rated: T Chapters:1 Words: Buzz Lightyear & Jessie

**I don't know what to say, this story is a very detailed, realistic account of Buzz and Jessie's relationship, set in the human world. I wanted to do something so bad for Buzz and Jessie, so I was prompted to write this one-shot, even though all inspiration has been draining lately. I've been having a lot of…family problems, and have been listening to music to escape it. At least I have this…=). For all of my Bessie fans out there, this one's for you, for all of my fellow reviewers, this one's for you, for all of the authors who haven't given up on me, this one's for you: read, review, and enjoy.**

He called himself Buzz, because, at a particularly young age, he was unable to pronounce Timothy correctly, so his mother prompted him to find something else he could say easily. The word happened to be from one of the mindless, colorful shows written just for infants, matched up with a too bright bumblebee. He was sitting on the couch next to his mother, pointing at the glowing screen, no struggle in the pronouncement. "Buzz!"

His mother smiled, pulling her son into her lap, so that they were watching that fluorescent bee flutter over a neon flower together, kissing the top of his head. "Buzz? Is that what you want to be called?" she asked once more, as her son clapped his hands, pointing another chubby finger at the screen, grinning wildly.

"Buzz!"

Even though it came from an infant show, "Timothy" stuck with the nickname, writing it at the top of schoolwork pages, using it when he introduced himself, monogramming it onto his notebooks and books. Buzz believed Timothy was ungodly formal, while he was not, polite, perhaps, but definitely not formal. Timothy might've been good in the Middle Ages, or during one of the wars, but not for a modern teenager.

Buzz hadn't been anticipating his arrival to middle school, especially after being accustomed to six years of the simple-minded leisure of elementary school. He didn't have a best friend, like most of the other kids; sure, he had plenty of acquaintances, even a few friends, but not a best friend. He made that his goal, writing it on the first page of his science journal, swearing to himself that he would find one.

And, contrary to his own self-doubts, Buzz found one, after a week or so of school, surviving by trusting no one but himself. A brown-haired boy, who preferred to wear yellow plaid shirts and cowboy boots, and he was quietly brilliant. A silent leader. Book-smart, people-smart, not to mention incredibly friendly, so the two became inseparable after the single gym period. The boy's name was Woodrow Pride, which, just as Buzz identified his given name, was ungodly formal, and simply strange. Buzz decided to return the favor to him, giving Woodrow the nickname Woody, from the top of his head.

Woody and Buzz were best friends from then on, hiking in the woods, or holding cram sessions the nights before tests. They goofed off together, didn't care what anyone else said, only because no one else bothered to say anything. They had fun on their own, which was undeniably true, until Buzz was introduced to Woody's cousin, who had recently moved to Andersville.

Her name was Jessica Cusack, but, just as Woody and Buzz, went by a nickname, the perfectly reasonable Jessie. She was a redhead, had a temper, but was also sensitive about a lot of things, and seemed to hate Buzz with a passion when Woody first introduced her. He, on the other hand, found himself falling in love with her, her beautiful, sparkling green eyes, the pale, heart-shaped face, her amazingly soft, red braid.

Jessie was excited at one point, quickly telling the two that, due to her parent's divorce, her best friend from her previous hometown was moving to Andersville. Buzz enthusiastically congratulated her, but, as usual, Jessie only regarded him with an odd look, that made him feel uncomfortable. He wanted to be friends with her, but she was making this awfully hard.

Jessie's friend arrived at their school within the three day period, on a Friday, who placed her orange, handmade backpack on her desk, positioned next to Jessie's, and announced herself as Dolly. No, Woody and Buzz never got a last name, or even a middle name, for, as she told them, Dolly believed middle names and last names were a terrible waste of time. You only called someone by their first name, or a nickname, not their complete identity. The two had to agree with this theory, as Dolly made herself comfortable in their misshapen threesome, sanding out the edges to form a foursome.

When Buzz confessed his crush on Jessie to Woody in their tree house one autumn evening, wearing windbreakers, watching the orange sun sink below the hills, he admitted that he had taken a liking to Dolly. When Buzz asked Woody why Jessie hated him so much, he was surprised to find his best friend laugh hysterically, so hard he almost fell out of the tree house.

"Isn't it obvious, Buzz?" Woody asked, wiping a tear from his chocolaty eyes, turning back to his confused comrade, "wait, you really don't realize why she acts like she hates you? Buzz, Jessie is madly in love with you, she just acts like that because she thinks you don't feel the same way. Duh."

Buzz blinked, and fell sideways out of the tree house.

Considering Buzz's mother always warned them about the height of the tree house, he felt defeated as he walked into school the next day, his left arm encased in a heavy plaster cast. That was when Jessie's spiteful façade collapsed, her soft, caring side finally emerging, as she spoon-fed Buzz at lunchtimes, even though he was quite capable of feeding himself.

While Dolly watched her best friend's newfound, mushy romance in disgust, Woody suggested they leave them alone, feeling the same way about Buzz. They were alone in the library, they began to talk, and when the lunch bell rang to signal the end of the period, he rolled off of her, both of them on the floor in romantic embrace, their lips connected. Both agreed to keep this a secret from their friends, but walked off side by side, laughing and talking.

After Buzz's arm came out of the cast, he took Jessie ice-skating, a sort of celebration, hoping that his blushing face looked like a side effect of the bitter cold. She saw right through it though, and laid her mitten-clad hand on his cheek, a knowing smirk on her face. Jessie then skated away from him, lightning-fast, her thin, agile form gliding over the frozen surface like an angel, his heart thumping like a war drum.

Buzz blinked, and Jessie circled the rink, kissing him right on the lips.

From then on, they were a couple, walking to classes together, holding hands, sneaking quick kisses in the hallway. Buzz and Jessie explained their pledge to love to their friends, only to get the bashful rebuttal that Woody and Dolly were going out as well.

When spring rolled around, and Jessie's cheerful attitude brightened with the sun, Buzz allowed her to come up in the tree house with him so they could watch the sun set together. He remembers that it was because of the tree house that they became a couple, because he broke his arm, because she felt compassion again.

"Buzz, I've noticed something," Jessie says to him, as he feels nervous, like she's going to break up with him. Buzz turns to her, anxiously awaiting her answer, their legs dangling from the edge of the tree house, the distant neighborhood noises in the distance: barking dogs, sprinklers swishing, lawn mowers purring. "You're so focused on the future, you forget to appreciate what's happening around you."

Relieved for a moment, defensive the next, Buzz crossed his arms, seeing that same smirk on her face, the glitter in her emerald eyes. "I am not always focused on the future, I can appreciate the present," he counters, knowing she was going to prove him wrong in a moment, but holding his ground for as long as he could.

"Oh yeah? Well, I bet you can't enjoy this sunset for thirty seconds," Jessie bet, raising an eyebrow, as Buzz turned back to sun, beginning to count, at a rather fast pace, until she put a hand over his mouth. "No, I will count. Ahem, one…" she waited a few moments, making each word deeply dramatic, "two, and then, next, comes the three."

Buzz realized that he had a hard time focusing on the sunset, only because he wasn't paying attention to how beautiful it was, he only thought about how Jessie was going to act after the bet and what he had to do when he got home and…wow. He really didn't focus on the present, he was only thinking about the future, what was happening next.

"Twenty-eight…then, what comes next, twenty-nine…and, after all of the counting, next in the number line, comes the thirty," Jessie finally ended, about two minutes later, the sun slipping completely behind the hills. He let out a long breath, before looking back at her, not surprised to her smirking once more.

"How come you're always right?" he asked, pretending to pout, but it wasn't enough to fool Jessie. Buzz blinked, and she leaned over, kissing his nose, before moving down to his lips, both engaging in a long, magical, romantic, passionate, perfect kiss.

So many years went by, shedding season after season, while their pact to forever love stood firm, taking on the wear of occasional arguments and false accusations. Buzz stayed with Jessie, but still found himself thinking about the future, even when he tried to enjoy the present. Woody and Dolly remained part of the ground, and together, not as romantic as their best friends, but still in love.

Then, came the horrible night, when Buzz walked into Jessie's house, just like he always did on Saturday nights, ready for their movie night. She was curled up on the couch, wearing only a lacey, cleavage-revealing nightgown, a hot, muscular boy on the couch with her. He lost all sense of familiar, plus the sensation he might throw up, before Jessie looked up. Their eyes connected, just for a moment, until he turned, bolting from the house, running far, far away from this.

Buzz climbed on the subway bus, heading towards the office building he worked, a sales employee at a paper company. He set his laptop bag on his lap, watching the black underground fly past him, his mind wandering to the sales he had to make today. When he came back into the real world, Buzz happened to look at the seat across from him, a familiar smirk hitting him right in the face. A long, red braid, a pair of gorgeous emerald eyes, a heart-shaped face.

"Holy…" Buzz whispered, as the girl moved to the seat next to him, confirming who she was. "Oh my God, you aren't…Jessica Cusack, that isn't you, is it? Or, are you still going by Jessie?"

"I'm still Jessie, Buzz, but the question is, why did you disappear?" she asked, tracing her finger along his arm cautiously, as he moved away from her slightly, shifting his laptop bag to the chair on the opposite side. "Woody was pretty upset when you stopped contacting us, he and Dolly are married now, they live up in Oregon. I visited them just a few days ago, they seem really happy, but we were worried about you."

Buzz closed his eyes, thinking of the girl who had changed his life: loved him because of a broken arm, kissed him countless times, made him watch the sunset, shared popcorn bowls with him so they could hold hands, going to parties to dance together. She was next to him, out in the open, a small window of opportunity to have her back again. Her hand snaked towards his, and Buzz took it, the memories too much to think about. "But why were you on the couch with that boy?" he asked, slightly unevenly, afraid he might cry.

Jessie's brow furrowed, like she was trying to remember, before her eyes widened, squeezing his hand, turning his head towards hers. "Oh God Buzz, is that why you've been gone all of this time? That Saturday night, I was sick, and was wearing pajamas: the boy was my older sister's boyfriend, he was forced to "baby-sit" me while my sister went out to pick up something. I tried to call you, but you had already left your house, so I guess you walked in on me wearing my pajamas, sitting on the couch with him."

So it had been a mistake. Avoiding the woman he loved, all of this time, just for a stupid mistake, something that made him feel dense in humiliation and regret. "Oh, Jessie, I didn't know, I'm so sorry for avoiding you," he whispered, as she smiled, her eyes glistening in forgiveness, their hands entwined. "I hope you can forgive me, or this can make up for this."

She blinked, and found her lips pressed up against Buzz's, a sensation so familiar, it was like writing her own name. Her hands moved over his arms and back, while his, carefully, moved over her hips, before he threw his arms around her neck, keeping them sealed together. Oh, this had to be the best moment of his life, kissing Jessica Cusack on the subway train.

Right now, this was a moment in the present, and, for the first time in his life, Buzz wasn't worried about the near future, or the far future, or the past; all he cared about was what was happening right now. And right now, he was reconciling with the woman he loved, kissing her in the dark, gross subway train, his hands stroking her braid, all right in the world. She would be his, and only his, for forever and always.

**Corny ending, I know, but I have to consider this one-shot a success, compared to some of my other things. The Buzz/Jessie dynamic has been pestering me for a long time, and I'm really glad I was able to put all of this on paper. So, I hope everyone enjoyed, and please leave a review on the way out, it'll make me feel better…**


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